Bombay Hemp Company makes products from hitherto ‘unrecognised’ fibre

Touted to be a billion-dollar industry in the West, hemp so far has received little recognition in India because it is often confused with marijuana.Shashwati Shankar | ET Bureau | November 06, 2015, 08:16 IST

MUMBAI: Inside a cluttered office in one of Lower Parel’s mill compounds, seven twentysomethings are dreaming of another green revolution. They are the team that runs India’s first industrial hempstartup—Bombay Hemp Company (BOHECO).

Touted to be a billion-dollar industry in the West, hemp so far has received little recognition in India because it is often confused with marijuana. BOHECO’s cofounders, who are all graduates of HR College, recounted several instances at conferences and farmer markets when potential consumers have confused “hemp” with “ham” or inquired about the likelihood of “getting high”.

“At a conference, a man asked us if a house made from hempcrete, an alternative building material, would get him high if it caught fire,” said 24-year-old cofounder Yash Kotak. Unlike a small town in Australia that runs entirely on hemp, there is little consumption of hemp in India. Locals in north India use it in their food and to make fibres, but that’s about all. “The textile ministry claims industrial hemp fibre can rake in a potential revenue of approximately Rs 240 crore annually,” said Sanvar Oberoi, one of the cofounders.

And at BOHECO’s windowless office, several hemp-based products can be found. Under a table lie a couple of cream canvas hemp shoes that are still in the works; in one corner lies a neatly packaged crisp, white hemp shirt ready for shipment; bottles of hemp seed oil sit beside packets of hemp seeds.

Hemp is made from the non-psychoactive variety of Cannabis Sativa L., having less than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which gives most of marijuana’s psychological effect. “Hemp is created from the stalk and seed and is a non-narcotic and non-excisable duty item, not from the bud and leaf which are used to make psychotropic substances,” said Romesh Bhattacharji, former narcotics commissioner of India and an advisor to BOHECO.

According to the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, mass cultivation of cannabis for horticultural and industrial uses is permitted by law. And so, several entities have come forward to support this unique venture. It is now part of the Social Innovation Acceleration Program (SIAP) by Marico Innovation Foundation, has received support by the Ashoka Foundation Fellowship, INK Fellowship, Rajeev Circle Fellowship and also an acknowledgement by Stanford University for research.

Closer home, BOHECO has cofounded the Innovation Centre for Natural Fibres (ICNF) with the National Institute of Design. Most recently, BOHECO was the only hemp startup representing India at the World Hemp Congress in Slovenia.

According to Suman Sahai, founder of the Gene Campaign and an advisor to BOHECO, the long-term solution for integrating hemp is through development of Indian seeds. BOHECO has received the first licence to develop hemp seeds in India in partnership with a government entity. “By 2017, we should have our own seeds,” said Kotak.

BOHECO currently works with 25 farmers and their families across Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and parts of Punjab. “They collect hemp fibre from the wild to further process it into fabric which is used for shirts, shoes, upholstery, in our clothing line The Hemp Couture (THC).” said cofounder Sumit Shah. When questioned about a global inspirational startup that they look up to, pat comes the response, “Tesla!” says Kotak. No surprises there.

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